Infection Control Practices Among Correctional Healthcare Workers: Effect of Management Attitudes and Availability of Protective Equipment and Engineering Controls
- 1 September 2001
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology
- Vol. 22 (9) , 555-559
- https://doi.org/10.1086/501951
Abstract
Objectives:: To determine the relation of the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) and engineering controls to infection control (IC) practices in a prison healthcare setting, and to explore the effect on IC practices of a perceived organizational commitment to safety.Design:: Cross-sectional survey.Setting:: The study population was drawn from the 28 regional Correctional Health Care Workers Facilities in Maryland.Participants:: All full-time Maryland correctional healthcare workers (HCWs) were surveyed, and 225 (64%) of the 350 responded.Method:: A confidential, self-administered questionnaire was mailed to all correctional HCWs employed in the 28 Maryland Correctional Health Care Facilities. The questionnaire was analyzed psychometrically and validated through extensive pilot testing. It included items on three major constructs: IC practices, safety climate (defined as the perception of organizational commitment to safety), and availability of IC equipment and supplies.Results:: A strong correlation was found between the availability of PPE and IC practices. Similarly, a strong correlation was found between IC practices and the presence of engineering controls. In addition, an equally strong association was seen between the adoption of IC practices and employee perception of management commitment to safety. Those employees who perceived a high level of management support for safety were more than twice as likely to adhere to recommended IC practices. IC practices were significantly more likely to be followed if PPE was always readily available. Similarly, IC practices were more likely to be followed if engineering controls were provided.Conclusion:: These findings suggest that ready availability of PPE and the presence of engineering controls are crucial to help ensure their use in this high-risk environment. This is especially important because correctional HCWs are potentially at risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens such as human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B and C viruses. Commitment to safety was found to be highly associated with the adoption of safe work practices. There is an inherent conflict of “custody versus care” in this setting; hence, it is especially important that we understand and appreciate the relation between safety climate and IC practices. Interventions designed to improve safety climate, as well as availability of necessary IC supplies and equipment, will most likely prove effective in improving employee compliance with IC practices in this healthcare setting.Keywords
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- BLOODBORNE PATHOGEN TRANSMISSION IN HEALTH CARE WORKERS: Risks and Prevention StrategiesInfectious Disease Clinics of North America, 1997
- Compliance with Universal Precautions Among PhysiciansJournal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1997
- A Work-Systems Analysis of Compliance With Universal Precautions Among Health Care WorkersHealth Education Quarterly, 1996
- Compliance with universal precautions among health care workers at three regional hospitalsAmerican Journal of Infection Control, 1995
- HIV infection among women in prison: an assessment of risk factors using a nonnominal methodology.American Journal of Public Health, 1994
- Surveillance of Health Care Workers Exposed to Blood from Patients Infected with the Human Immunodeficiency VirusNew England Journal of Medicine, 1988
- The Journal of Applied BacteriologyJournal of Applied Bacteriology, 1987
- Occupational Risk of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome among Health Care WorkersNew England Journal of Medicine, 1986
- Hepatitis B in Wisconsin male prisoners: considerations for serologic screening and vaccination.American Journal of Public Health, 1985
- Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of testsPsychometrika, 1951